Prosecutors drop second case linked to Annapolis bar fight

Body camera footage obtained by The Capital depicting the aftermath of a fight outside the Armadillos restaurant in March show an officer who claims to have sprayed Ryan Greenstreet, 23, of Huntingtown in Calvert County, and Michael Richardson, 21, of West River, with his department-issued mace.

Body camera footage obtained by The Capital depicting the aftermath of a fight outside the Armadillos restaurant in March show an officer who claims to have sprayed Ryan Greenstreet, 23, of Huntingtown in Calvert County, and Michael Richardson, 21, of West River, with his department-issued mace.

Prosecutors have dropped charges against the second man arrested following a fight in downtown Annapolis after police began internal investigations as to officers’ handling of the incident.

The Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office dropped disorderly conduct and resisting arrest charges against Michael Richardson, 21, of West River, after he was arrested for his alleged role in a March 11 incident outside Armadillo’s Bar & Grill at City Dock.

Officers’ handling of the case came under scrutiny after body camera footage provided to The Capital showed that an officer said he was “not really comfortable charging” Ryan Greenstreet, 23, of Huntingtown, after he’d pepper sprayed him. Greenstreet was ultimately arrested and charged with disorderly conduct before charges were dropped last month.

In the body camera footage after the incident took place, police said Richardson was involved in a fight outside the bar and then proceeded to resist arrest as Officer Brandon Ellis approached him.

Defense attorneys in both cases have questioned why no footage of the incident has been provided to them.

Richardson’s attorney, Jennifer Alexander, said the charges were dropped after she pressed police about additional footage.

A spokeswoman for the State’s Attorney’s Office wrote in an email that it dropped the charges after reviewing the evidence and denied they did so after learning of Alexander’s request for more body camera footage.